[Intro]
Grown folks conversation
You’ve got too much on the line

[Chorus]
Once you’ve got something to lose
You don’t waste your time dealing with a fool who got something to prove
When you learn to live under them rules
You’ll maneuver like a boss do, never be corrupted or used

[Verse 1]
Don’t hang with people who don’t want nothing
No hustle, no drive, won’t ever own nothing
You grew up in the same hood, ‘round the same age
You started grinding, now you good, he at the samе stage
Can’t force a grown person out thеir playing-games phase
You done read the whole book, they on the same page
When you was younger, you used to see him go steal and rob
Called you a square because you went out there and got a job
That was your homie, but he blind, he did a little time
He thirty-nine, still got a twenty year old mind
A wise soul ain’t attracted to the fool’s gold
You pay a car note, a mortgage and buying school clothes
So why would you ever jeopardize the place you in?
People with nothing will provoke and try to bait you in
You let ‘em get into your head, all your work is dead
Why would you risk it all over what a person said?
Check it out
[Chorus]
Once you’ve got something to lose
You don’t waste your time dealing with a fool who got something to prove
When you learn to live under them rules
You’ll maneuver like a boss do, never be corrupted and used (again)
Once you’ve got something to lose
You don’t make stupid moves that'll have you ending up on the news
Learn to recognize the troubling clues
When you see 'em coming— dip, never let your foot get up in them shoes

[Verse 2]
We staying free, ducking, dodging where the beef be
I gotta make it home, I got people that need me
He talked reckless so you popped him at his front door
You doing fifty years but you ain’t no punk though
See, understand, homie, once you start to get some things
Folks hating and talking ‘bout you don’t hit the same
Ain’t no more getting out of character and flipping out
Y’all could be outside all you want, I’m in the house
You got your life together, black, you ain’t the same cat
Now you on lock behind some childishness, explain that
They say you s’posed to pick your battles, yeah they told you a fact
You got property, all they got is just the clothes on his back
You got a family, you got babies, you done found your place
See, birds fly, they don’t slither on the ground with snakes
Yeah, both of y’all might take a fall tossing them words
The difference is you falling off a mountaintop, he falling off of the curb
So listen
[Chorus]
Once you’ve got something to lose
You don’t waste your time dealing with a fool who got something to prove
When you learn to live under them rules
You’ll maneuver like a boss do, never be corrupted and used (again)
Once you’ve got something to lose
You don’t make stupid moves that'll have you ending up on the news
Learn to recognize the troubling clues
When you see 'em coming — dip, never let your foot get up in them shoes

[Verse 3]
Y’all be talking loyalty and how you mob for your crew
But what you didn’t learn to do is to be loyal to you
Them your partner drugs, why you tryna test your fate?
Ain’t nothing gangster ‘bout taking somebody else’s case
Right or wrong, it’s smarter to do your thing alone
Because if he really a soldier, he gon’ claim his own
And when you know the game, you never hesitate to give it
‘cause by the time you learn the lesson, it’s too late to live it
Too many people got dropped that coulda talked it out
Some road rage and getting popped over a parking spot
You say they in the hood hating on you, I don’t care
You in your purpose, why the hell you even ‘round there?
They're mad at you because you straight and they ain’t made a dime
A basic thinker ain’t in line with elevated minds
And that don’t mean that you forgot the hood and turned your back
You only turned your back on them crash dummy acts
I’m speaking facts so
[Chorus]
Once you’ve got something to lose
You don’t waste your time dealing with a fool who got something to prove
When you learn to live under them rules
You’ll maneuver like a boss do, never be corrupted and used (again)
Once you’ve got something to lose
You don’t make stupid moves that'll have you ending up on the news
Learn to recognize the troubling clues
When you see 'em — dip, never let your foot get up in them shoes